2-year-old ban on fishing red snapper could be eased

A 2-year-old ban on catching the prized red snapper in the Atlantic Ocean could be eased later this year if a federal panel agrees that the latest counts allow a return to a limited amount of fishing.

The prospect offers a glimmer of hope for Central Florida fishermen unhappy with the ban, which took effect in January 2010.

"We can't wait," said Jeff Page, president of the Central Florida Offshore Anglers, a club of deep-water-fishing families. "The buzz is that they may entertain the idea of opening it back, and that would be huge."

Modifying the red-snapper ban will be discussed at an upcoming Orlando meeting of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council, the regional group that oversees fishing regulations in federal waters from North Carolina to the Keys. During its June 11-15 meeting, the panel will consider an "emergency rule" that would allow some fishing.

Federal officials have faced intense pressure from fishing groups to lift the ban on the fish, a favorite catch among sport fishermen and a tasty meal in demand at restaurants and seafood markets.

A 2008 study found that red snapper had been overfished since the 1980s at a rate eight times greater than what the population could sustain. Federal officials approved a open-ended ban, saying it was necessary to protect the species.

But commercial captains and recreational anglers have continued to dispute the need for it. They say the science behind the ban is flawed, and they point to the large numbers and the size of the red snapper they see when they fish in the Atlantic.

In the best-case scenario, a limited fishing season might be allowed later this year, said Roy Crabtree, Southeast regional administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries service. The fishery council would have to decide the details of when and where red snapper could be caught.

"That any fishing could be allowed would be welcome to us, but we need to be realistic," Crabtree said. "We just need to be careful."

Holly Binns, project manager with the Pew Environment Group, which campaigned for the ban, said that any easing of restrictions this year would be sooner than anticipated.

"It's critical we stick to the rebuilding plan. We need to get red snapper back on the road to recovery," Binns said. "It would be a shame if we were to jump the gun after all the sacrifices that have been made.

"But if the data does allow for some harvest, that would be great news."

The ban has hurt the fishing industry at Port Canaveral, where there are fewer captains working and fewer boats in operation, said Jim Busse, owner of Seafood Atlantic, a retail seafood market and restaurant there.

"It's devastated the entire charter head-boat fishery," Busse said. "It's devastated the recreational economic engine for the public who likes to go fish.

"The science has shut us down, and every day I hear captains disgusted about the management because they see the living proof that science is flawed," Busse said.

Meanwhile, recreational anglers are skipping fishing trips because of the ban and other deterrents. The economic downturn has left them with less money to spend. The high price of gas has made such outings expensive, and federal officials have limited the fishing of other species, including vermilion snapper, various groupers and black sea bass.

"There are times of the year when there is nothing to catch," Page said. "People have been less likely to go out, and when I'm at the ramp on weekends, there are maybe 50 percent fewer boats."

That decline in fishing may have helped the red-snapper population, officials said.

When the ban was approved, federal officials set up a 35-year plan to rebuild the population. Officials assumed that even with a ban, some red snapper would still be caught and killed unintentionally when anglers were trying to catch other fish. But as long as that amount of "discarded" red snapper stayed small, the overall population could rebuild itself over time.

The federal plan allowed up to 346,000 pounds of red-snapper discards in 2010, rising to 541,000 pounds this year.

Here's where the opportunity arises for anglers: If it turns out the actual amounts of red-snapper discards have been smaller than estimated, some "extra" fish may be available.

The federal fishing panel has asked for statistics on the actual red-snapper discard amount. Those tallies, from a federal science center, will determine whether the ban can be eased.

Public pressure to lift the red-snapper ban also will help, said Dave Heil, a Winter Park attorney who has been working on lawsuits to fight the ban.

"I've been fishing for 40 years, and there are snapper in areas where they have never been before," Heil said. "There is a pretty good chance they'll give us something."